Reinforced concrete construction.



W. B. HOUGH.

REINFORCED CONCRETE CONSTRUCTION.

APPLICATION FILED D110. 30, 1911. k

Patented Feb. 9, 1915.

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B. HOUGH, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TOPATENTED DEVICES COMPANY, OF PORTLAND, MAINE, A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

REINFORCED CONCRETE CONSTRUCTION.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 9, Mill-5.

Application filed December 30, 1911. Serial No. 668,64i0t.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM B. HoUeH, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of'Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Reinforced ConcreteConstruction, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to means for spacing reinforcing bars at desireddistances apart and at the proper distance from the cause the lower faceof said member will then be exposed upon the lower side of the slab. llavoid these difliculties, first, by 10- eating the connecting member soclose to the formwork that if said member be stepped upon it will not bedeflected so far as to cause deformation, but on the contrary it willspring back as soon as the pressure is removed, and, the bars will notbe displaced; and, second, by providing means to support the connectingmember and the bar-supporting devices out of contact with the formwork,so thatthe connecting member and the bar-supporting devices shall beembedded in theconcrete. v

A further object is to strengthen the construction of the bar-supportingdevices.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a fragmental top plan view.Figs. 2, 3, 4, and 5 are fragmental side elevations of alternativeforms.

The letter. A denotes the formwork or decking, and B the reinforcingbars. Said bars are spaced apart by means of a suitable number ofdevices embodying my invention, only one such device being shown inFig. 1. Said device comprises a longitudinal or connecting member 1herein shown as formed of hoop iron. Thebars aresupported upon chairs 2of suitable construction. The form of chair selected for illustrationconsists of folded metal which, if desired, may be integral with thelongitudinal connecting inember, as. shown in Figs. 2,. 3 and 4, or itmay be formed separate therefrom, as indicated in Fig. 5. The

chair herein illustrated consists of a middle leg or gage portion 3 andside portions 4 connecting the upper part of the gage with thelongitudinal member. In the form of chair shown in Fig. 2, the lower endof the gage 3 is substantially flush with the lower side of thelongitudinal member.

The longitudinal member 1 and the chairs 2 are supported at aslightdistance from the formwork by means of spacer elements 5 which may beformed separately from the longitudinal member and the chairs, as inFigs. 2,3 and 4, or may be integral with the longitudinal member as inFig. 5; One of the spacer elements 5 is located under each chair, and isof sufficient length to extend from one side of'the chair to the other.The spacer element is secured in place in any suitable manner, as bywelding the longitudinal .member and the spacer element together at m.The latter thus serves to tie the sides of the chair together and'prevent spreading thereoffi The spacer ele ment is made of suflicientheight to support the chair and the longitudinal member at the desireddistance from the formwork, as by forming a suitable number of bends orfolds 6 in the hoop iron or sheet metal from which the element isconstructed, said bends projecting downwardly to rest upon the iormworkat a point or points below the Fig. 3 illustrates an alternativeconstruction wherein the gage 3 is extended below the plane of thelongitudinal member 1, the spacer element 5 having a bend or socket 7therein in which the gage rests. The spacer element 5 is welded orotherwise secured to the longitudinal member 1 at :12. It will be seenthat the gage 3 is supported solidly the chair are turned outwardly andare.

suitably secured to the longitudinal member 1, preferably by welding. Inthis form the means for spacing the body of the longitudinal member fromthe formwork comconstruction comprising a longitudinal mem-.

prises one or more projections bent down- -wardly from the longitudinalmember ber, a plurality of bar-supporting chairs extending upwardly fromthe plane of said member and adapted to support reinforcing bars in aplane spaced from the plane of said member, and: a spacer extendingdownwardly from the plane of said member beneath each of said chairs forspacing said member from a formwork.

- 2. A gage device for reinforced-concrete construction comprising alongitudinal member, a plurality of chairs on said member each adaptedto support a reinforcing bar in a plane spaced away in one directionfrom the plane of said member, and a spacer for each chair extending inthe opposite direction from said member for spacing the latter away froma formwork, one of the two last mentioned elements being formed integralwith said longitudinal member.

3. A gage device for reinforced-concrete construction comprising ametallic band, an

integral bar-supporting chair bent up there from and arranged to supporta reinforcing bar in a plane above and spaced from the plane of saidband, and a spacer formed separate from and secured to said band beneathsaid chair and serving to space the body of said band from a formwork.

4. A gage device for reinforced-concrete construction consisting of ametallic band, bar-supporting chairs extending upwardly from the planeof the band and comprising a gage and two side portions at oppositesides of the gage extending downwardly from the top of the gage to theplane of the band, and a spacer having a socket adapted to receive thelower end of said gage and serving to space said band away from aformwork. 4

iza-pee 5. A gage device for reinforced concrete construction consistingof a longitudinal member, a series of chairs on said member extendingupwardly therefrom and arranged to support reinforcing bars in a planeabove and spaced from the plane of said member, and means adapted torest upon a formwork and space said member a short distance above theface of the formwork, whereby said member will not be permanentlydeformed when depressed into engagement with the formwork and will beembedded in the concrete when poured.

(3. A gage device for reinforced concrete constructioncomprising aseries of chairs each consisting of a central V-shaped leg and two sideportions extending downwardly on opposite sides from the top of saidleg, each chair being adapted to support a reinforcing bar at-the properdistance from a formwork, a longitudinal member joining the series ofchairs and lying in a plane between and spaced from the plane of thereinforcing bars and the face of the formwork, and a spacer beneath eachchair adapted to engage the formwork and hold said member in such spacedrelation,-whereby the member will not be deformed When forced againstthe formwork and will be ,embedded in the concreteewhen poured.

7. A gage device for reinforced concrete construction consisting of ametallic band, a series of bar-supporting chairs thereon, each of saidchairs comprising a central gage or leg, and side portions extendingdownwardly from the upper end of said leg to the plane of said band, thelower end of said leg projecting below the plane of said band.

8. A gage device for reinforced-concrete construction consisting of ametallicband, a plurality of bar-supporting chairs thereon, each of saidchairs comprising a central leg or gage, and side portions extendingdownwardly from the upper end of said leg to the plane of said band, andmeans upon which the lower end of said leg rests, said means serving tospace the body of said band away from a formvvork.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM B. HOUGH.

